Court OKs DNA tests in 1987 Newport murder

5:01 PM,
May 17, 2013

Written by

Dave Malaska
dmalaska@nky.com

The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a man who has served 26 years in prison for a Newport murder has the right to have DNA tests done on evidence in his case. The court, citing a new state law, remanded the case to Campbell Circuit Court Judge Fred Stine's court.

Stine had previously denied the motion for testing made by attorneys for William "Ricky" Virgil.

Virgil, now 60, was convicted in the 1987 killing of Retha Welch, a Christian minister and psychiatric nurse with the VA Medical Center who was found dead in her Newport apartment, stabbed repeatedly and beaten. ...